The trading of stocks, bonds and other financial instruments over computer networks such as the Internet has become a very common activity. In many countries of the world, such stocks, bonds and other financial instruments are traded exclusively over computer networks, completely replacing prior trading systems such as “open outcry” trading in trading pits.
Trading of stocks, bonds, etc. typically requires multiple types of associated electronic information. For example, to trade stocks electronically an electronic trader typically would like to know an asking price for a stock, a current bid price for a stock, a bid quantity, an asking quantity, current information about the company the trader is trading such as profit/loss information, a current corporate forecast, current corporate earnings, etc.
The multiple types of associated electronic information have to be supplied in real-time to allow the electronic trader to make the appropriate decisions. Such electronic information is typically displayed in multiple windows on a display screen.
For an electronic trader to be successful, the trader typically develops trading strategies. For example a trading strategy may include executing a trade based on a desired ratio between two trading instruments. As another example, a trading strategy may include executing a trade based on a basis level for a trading instrument.
There are several problems with using manual trading strategies on electronic trading systems. One problem is that a trader will typically create his/her own trading strategies using disjunct or proprietary tools. For example, a trade may implement his/her own trading strategy in a spreadsheet and manually enter and update current market values of trading instruments. The trader then must take additional actions to implement his/her trading strategy based on data form the spreadsheet.
Another problem is that some electronic trading systems allow traders to enter certain data to provide automatic notification of events that are related to a trader's trading strategy (e.g., a certain buy price, a sell price, a ratio, etc.). However, then a trader must still take manual actions to execute an electronic trade such as clicking a mouse, making a keyboard input, etc.).
Another problem is that many traders execute trades across many different markets and several different electronic exchanges. Such trading typically leads a trader to manual methods to execute a desired trading strategy.
Another problem is that many traders desire to execute trades for “synthetic contracts” or contracts that don't really exist on any trading exchange. For example, a synthetic contract may include automatically selling a call and buying a put. Such a synthetic contract does not exist on any trading exchange but is desirable to a selected group of traders.
There have been attempts to solve some of the problems with GUIs used for electronic trading. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,993,504 entitled “User interface for semi-fungible trading,” that issued to Frisen et al. teaches “A user interface and method are disclosed for providing trading between a plurality of semi-fungible and non-fungible goods. A plurality of book axes are displayed in a single interface, each book axis representing a market for a particular good. Orders for goods are displayed as marks on the axes to display the relative value of the orders. A value axis is provided that relates the value of the goods from each market to each other. Thus, a single interface provides the means to relate the values of different semi-fungible goods. The value axis may be displayed in units of price, or a custom value designated by a user or pre-defined by the interface. Quantity information is represented in the interface through the display of a dimension of an order icon. Precise information about each order is displayed either in a panel view or a pop-up window.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,011 entitled “Click based trading with market depth display,” that issued to Kemp et al. teaches “A method and system for reducing the time it takes for a trader to place a trade when electronically trading commodities on an exchange, thus increasing the likelihood that the trader will have orders filled at desirable prices and quantities. Click based trading, as described herein and specifically the “Click” and “Dime” methods of the present invention, enables a trader to execute single mouse click trades for large volumes of commodities at a price within a pre-specified range.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,132 entitled “Click based trading with intuitive grid display of market depth,” that issued to Kemp et al. teaches “A method and system for reducing the time it takes for a trader to place a trade when electronically trading on an exchange, thus increasing the likelihood that the trader will have orders filled at desirable prices and quantities. The “Mercury” display and trading method of the present invention ensure fast and accurate execution of trades by displaying market depth on a vertical or horizontal plane, which fluctuates logically up or down, left or right across the plane as the market prices fluctuates. This allows the trader to trade quickly and efficiently.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,766,304 entitled “Click based trading with intuitive grid display of market depth,” that issued to Kemp et al. teaches “A method and system for reducing the time it takes for a trader to place a trade when electronically trading on an exchange, thus increasing the likelihood that the trader will have orders filled at desirable prices and quantities. The “Mercury” display and trading method of the present invention ensure fast and accurate execution of trades by displaying market depth on a vertical or horizontal plane, which fluctuates logically up or down, left or right across the plane as the market prices fluctuates. This allows the trader to trade quickly and efficiently.”
U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,282 entitled “System and method for conducting securities transactions over a computer network,” that issued to Buist teaches “The system and method of the preferred embodiment supports trading of securities over the Internet both on national exchanges and outside the national exchanges. The preferred embodiment supports an improved human interface and a continuous display of real-time stock quotes on the user's computer screen. The ergonomic graphical user interface (GUI) of the preferred embodiment includes several functional benefits in comparison with existing on-line consumer trading systems. In the preferred embodiment, the users are subscribers to a securities trading service offered over the Internet. Preferably, each subscriber to this service is simultaneously connected from his own computer to a first system which provides user-to-user trading capabilities and to a second system which is a broker/dealer system of his/her choice. The system providing the user-to-user trading services preferably includes a root server and a hierarchical network of replicated servers supporting replicated databases. The user-to-user system provides real-time continuously updated stock information and facilitates user-to-user trades that have been approved by the broker/dealer systems with which it interacts. Users of the preferred system can trade securities with other users of the system. As part of this user-to-user trading, a user can accept a buy or sell offer at the terms offered or he can initiate a counteroffer and negotiate a trade.”
U.S. Pat. No. 5,297,031 entitled “Method and apparatus for order management by market brokers,” that issued to Gutterman et al. teaches “There is provided a broker workstation for managing orders in a market for trading commodities, securities, securities options, futures contracts and futures options and other items including: a device for selectively displaying order information; a computer for receiving the orders and for controlling the displaying device; and a device for entering the orders into the computer; wherein the displaying device comprises a device for displaying selected order information about each incoming order, a device for displaying a representation of an order deck and a device for displaying a total of market orders. In another aspect of the invention, there is provided in a workstation having a computer, a device for entering order information into the computer and a device for displaying the order information entered, a method for managing orders in a market for trading commodities, securities, securities options, futures contracts and futures options and the like comprising the steps of: selectively displaying order information incoming to the workstation; accepting or rejecting orders corresponding to the incoming order information displayed; displaying accepted order information in a representation of a broker deck; and selectively displaying a total of orders at the market price.”
Thus, it is desirable to solve some of the problems associated with implementing trading strategies using electronic trading systems.